Keeping up with Conferences

To keep up with current practices, technologies, and trends in the seemingly ever-changing world of libraries and information, librarians regularly attend professional conferences. Recently, Hope College librarians have attended: Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), American Library Association (ALA), Michigan Library Association (MLA), the Innovative Users Group (IUG), and The Charleston Conference. These provide venues at which librarians can share ideas, present research, discuss topics of current interest to the profession, attend committee meetings, mingle, socialize, and meet new colleagues from other institutions.

Last month I was able able to attend and give a brief presentation at a 3-day Canadian conference/workshop (WILU) dedicated solely to academic library research instruction. It was the 39th annual of its kind and this year it was held at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. The participants and speakers represented a wide range of Canadian and American universities/colleges. Being a native of the area and familiar with the city and campus, I was especially happy to attend and participate in this conference. Some of the sessions I found most interesting and relevant to what my Reference and Instruction Librarian colleagues and I do here at Hope include: Designing Learner-Centered Research Guides, Concept Mapping: Fun for Librarians, and From Pre-Defined Topics to Research Questions: An Inquiry-Based Approach to Knowledge.

Todd Wiebe
Reference and Instruction Librarian
Van Wylen Library